Genetically modified silkworms could be the key to creating lightweight, flexible and strong fabrics for protective garments worn by soldiers, said one company executive.Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, which is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has taken ordinary silkworms and genetically modified them to produce strong and flexible spider silk, said Jon Rice, the companys chief operations officer.The premise is pretty simplesilkworms make silk, right' Theyve been doing it for thousands of years, he said. If the worms could produce spider silkwhich is one of the toughest natural fibers in existencethat could open up a slew of opportunities in the manufacturing of textiles, Rice said.Despite being promptly laughed out of every scientific room [and by] every venture capitalist saying, This idea could never be, researchers at the company teamed up with the University of Notre Dame to create a recipe for a spider silk protein, he said.Weve created this recipe, this package, this instruction manual that takes the recipe for spider silk and introduces it into the silkworm, he said. The silkworms remember that recipe generation upon generation. So we essentially have a brand new genetic line of silkworm that now produces this high-strength, high elasticity fiber.Spider silks can come in nearly endless configurations, Rice said. There are hundreds of thousands of species of spiders, each with their own special silk attributes. Additionally, each species produces eight different types of silks. That includes everything from the sticky silk that holds prey in their web to the supporting strands that hold their webs together, he said.The companys best performing genetic line is known as Dragon Silk. The fiber is 10 times more elastic and has about two-thirds the strength of current material used in bulletproof vests, he said. That combination makes the fiber tougher, he added.Kraig Biocraft was recently awarded its first US military contract with the Army to produce Dragon Silk for ballistic shoot packs, which are layers of fabric that can be sewn into protective garments such as bulletproof vests.Under the first phase of the projectwere producing about 15 kilograms of our strongest, most elastic material to date, Rice said. Well provide a variety of thicknesses and a variety of layers so they can test to see how well this material performs in critical protective applications.The contract has a total value of $1 million if an option phase is awarded. The base effort is funded at about $100,000 and lasts 10 months, Rice said. Genetic modification allows Kraig Biocraft to tailor its product to the Armys needs, he said.If they find out, Hey, this is a really neat material but wed like it to be a little bit less elastic and a little bit stronger, we can go in and make those modifications, he said.SEE ALSO:Prison inmates made helmets for the US military ' and tens of thousands were defectiveJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: This Gravity-Defying Hobby Requires Some Serious Core Strength
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